In devices which feed and convey sheet material, such as inserter machines, it is well known to use side guides for centering and deskewing the sheets being fed or conveyed. It is also known to use adjustable side guides so that such devices can handle sheet material of various widths. The following examples of various known adjustable side guide mechanisms are provided.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,303 issued to D. A. Glaser, et al. on Oct. 30, 1962, there is disclosed a self-centering parallel guide assembly, including two side guide members which remain parallel and equally spaced from a center line whenever adjustments are made. However, the linkage disclosed in Glaser causes the side guides to move longitudinally as well as laterally when the adjustment is made. Glaser, et al. is not suitable for use in devices which require that the side guides maintain their longitudinal positions because of space limitations or processing requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,953, issued to Karl W. Klose on Aug. 17, 1976, discloses apparatus for an automatic self-centering feed conveyor. The Klose apparatus works only with material rigid enough to achieve the automatic self-centering feature. This apparatus is not suitable for use in a device processing non-rigid sheet material such as paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,515, issued to Foster, et al. on Dec. 6, 1983 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a side guides adjustment mechanism for an inserter machine. The side guides are adjusted by rotation of a knob, which in turn drives a cam shaft causing cam followers associated with the respective side guides to rotate thereby resulting in lateral displacement of the side guides. Although this mechanism works well, it requires several moving parts which must be interconnected from the base area of the inserter machine to the side guides, thus requiring significant amount of space within the inserter machine for housing the adjustment mechanism.